The invention concerns a lost modeling-compound casting pattern made of a low melting-point modeling compound for precision metal casting as well as a method of preparing the pattern.
Lost modeling-compound casting patterns are used for casting when the casts are complex and extreme precision is necessary. The pattern is made of a low melting-point modeling compound like wax, tin, bismuth, antimony. The patterns are cast and, once hardened, are packed in a box with sand or with a ceramic material and binder to produce a mold. The compound is melted out of the mold, leaving a cavity (Dubbel, Taschenbuch fur den Maschinenbau, 14th ed., Springer, 1981, 946-49).
A simple method of preparing such a pattern without tools is stereolithography (U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,330), which depends on a laser controlled by a computer from a drawing (CAD). The laser's ultraviolet light is focused on a liquid monomer in a tub with a perforated plate that moves up and down. The light cures the monomer by polymerizing it into a solid that can no longer be liquified. The computer-controlled laser exploits the reaction to construct the shape represented in the drawing layer by layer on the perforated plate, which is slightly immersed in the tub of liquid. High-precision patterns can be prepared in this way. The method does have a drawback, however, in that a non-hollow pattern takes a long time to prepare because the length of the process depends on how much material is being cured. Furthermore, the photocuring polymer expands considerably before melting when the pattern is melted out of the mold. This process can burst the mold.